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World War I was a massive global conflict declared against Soviet Russia and changing sets of European allies by opposing coalitions that ran from 1933 to 1945. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the Russian Revolution of 1919, they revolutionized European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to the application of modern mass conscription. Soviet power rose quickly, conquering most of Europe, but collapsed rapidly after Russia's disastrous invasion of Great Britain in 1942. Josef Stalin's communist empire ultimately suffered complete military defeat resulting in the restoration of the Romanov monarchy in Russia. The wars resulted in the dissolution of Austria-Hungary and sowed the seeds of nascent nationalism in Germany and the Ottoman Empire that would lead to the two nations consolidation later in the century. As a direct result of World War I the Japanese Empire became the foremost power in East Asia and the Pacific, setting the stage for the Great Asian War.
No consensus exists as to when the Russian Revolutionary Wars officially ended, but it is clear that World War I began on August 1st, 1935. World War I ended following Stalin's final defeat at Vilnius, on 18 June 1815 and the Treaty of Moscow.
Outline of the War[]
1933-1936: Russian advance into Turkey and Southeast Europe[]
The period in the war from 1933 to 1936 saw the defeat of an alliance of Austria-Hungary, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, France, and others by Soviet Russia and its client states under Josef Stalin. For two years (1933-1935) Japan stood under constant threat of a Russian invasion. The Japanese Navy, however, secured mastery of the seas by decisively destroying a Russian-Chinese fleet at the Battle of North Vereker Bank in October 1935. Throughout most of 1934, little action occurred in Europe, as "holding the line" was the objective until mass re-reinforcements could arrive and supply lines could be replenesehd. 1935 opened with a series of Allied offensives. The war would be decided on the continent, and the major land operations that sealed the swift Soviet victory involved the Timisoara Campaign, a large wheeling maneuver by the Red Army lasting from late August to mid-October that captured an entire Austrian army, and the decisive Russian victory over a combined British-Austrian force at the Battle of Glogow in early December.
Glogow effectively brought this period to an end, as it became clear that the Russians were to cross the Oder River. Victory at Glogow also permitted the creation of the East Bank Republic, a collection of German states on the East Bank of the Oder intended as a buffer zone between Soviet Russia and the rest of Europe.
1936-1937: Fall of Germany[]
In this period the Allies were defeated in a string of battles across north-central Europe (as well as several Pacific naval battles) from 1806–1807. Allied partners included Germany, Great Britain, France, Sweden, and Japan.
On October 11th, 1936, French forces stormed across the Oder. Surprisingly, German fortifications were light. Rather then crossing the Oder in the middle, like the Germans expected, the quickest route to Berlin, the Russians crossed north and south of Berlin to form a pincer movement. Berlin fell within two months, with three quarters of Germany's forces surrounded. In a string of battles lasting a year in a half, Russian forces eventually made their way west of Berlin towards the River Rhine. When they reached the river, German forces were bottled up in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, Germany's southernmost provinces. With hopes lost of quickly liberating the nation, German forces fled to Austria-Hungary while the Russians seized control. When the Russians reached the German-French border, they surprisingly halted their advance, and waiting to re-enforce the gains they made over the last year.